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Round 22 2019
West Coast fell to Richmond in a high-intensity match that played out like a potential Grand Final preview. The Eagles stunned Richmond early with a seven-goal first term but the Tigers fought their way back in the second term, before rain hit the MCG at halftime. Richmond had the better of the wet conditions but the Eagles fought down to the wire, eventually losing by one straight kick. Andrew Gaff had a team-high 29 possessions and Jamie Cripps bobbed up for goals at critical times, finishing with three. Summary Goals: 'Cripps 3, Darling, Rioli 2, O.Allen, Hickey, Kennedy, Petruccelle, Ryan, Waterman '''Best: '''Yeo, Hurn, Shuey, Gaff, Sheppard, Jetta '''Injuries: '''Hutchings (hamstring), Sheppard (knee), Darling (hip) Named sides No change. Late change: Rotham for Schofield (managed) Quarter by quarter West Coast replaced Schofield with Rotham, reportedly for match-up purposes. The match began in the dry but rain hit the MCG at half-time. Club Champion votes West Coast Eagles Yearbook 2019, p.48 From the coach "We hung in there and almost stole it. After quarter time we probably lowered our colours in a few areas, but we gutsed it out. All credit to Richmond and they walk away with the four points, but I’m still proud of our players. "When you’re not getting supply like we didn’t after probably halfway through the second quarter, or the start of the second quarter, and you’re holding up as much as you can, I reckon we probably gave away a couple of easy goals. There were some moments where we weren’t as predictable as we would have liked, but there was so much supply coming in that it made the job to get it out of our back half and get any field position. "...It was interesting the weather. I think the last wet game we played in was the Freo game, which we had a good win in. We’re not worried about playing in the wet. I know people talk about our ball use, but we’re not just relying on that. We wouldn’t be where we are if we just relied on good ball use. We didn’t adapt as well as Richmond at stages with predictability, but the second half became a slog. Field position was the real key and we couldn’t get that."''westcoasteagles.com.au (19 August 2019), "Round 22: Pressing questions": https://www.westcoasteagles.com.au/news/2019-08-19/round-22-pressing-questions From the papers The West Australian "West Coast started and ended this remarkable match the better team, yet went down to Richmond by one straight kick, 13.10 (88) to 13.4 (82) in an epic at the MCG. The Eagles will take plenty of heart from their gutsy late fightback, but there are no prizes for trying amid a fraught scramble for top two and top four finishing positions. At the 15-minute mark of the final term, the Eagles had kicked just two goals since quarter-time yet they exploded back to life with four majors from that point to almost flip the script. The dying stages were gripping stuff. The Tiger army might have rioted had West Coast prevailed, with controversial free kicks paid against Jack Riewoldt for using his studs in a marking contest and another for deliberate out of bounds giving the Eagles a late throw of the dice."Braden Quartermaine, The West Australian (18 August 2019), "Heartbreaker: West Coast Eagles edged out, top-two hopes take hit with six-point loss to Richmond" The Age "During the long break the rain arrived, an uncontrollable factor that any form analyst knew favoured Richmond, who love the conditions as much as any horse sired by High Chaparral. However the Eagles didn't win last year's premiership by wilting under pressure, and the game settled down to a head-to-head battle, like two warriors down the home straight. The Eagles fell behind but fought back, and the Tigers lost then regained Dylan Grimes after he suffered an ankle injury. Nine goals were kicked in a desperate last quarter, with Richmond managing five to the Eagles' four. It was twin towers Lynch and Riewoldt who kept the Tigers hitting the scoreboard as Martin, Dion Prestia and Shane Edwards settled into a war of attrition against Elliot Yeo, Luke Shuey and Andrew Gaff."Peter Ryan, The Age (18 August 2019), "Richmond hang on in thriller against Eagles": https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/richmond-hang-on-in-thriller-against-eagles-20190818-p52iak.html Reserves '''Round 19 (16 August) West Coast stayed in the hunt for a maiden finals berth with a messy win over East Perth under lights at a sodden Leederville Oval. In heavy rain, the Eagles were able to keep East Perth scoreless for the entire first half and won relatively comfortably despite only kicking four goals themselves. Dropped wingman Chris Masten had a team-high 25 possessions and Hamish Brayshaw backed him up with 24 touches. '''Goals: '''Cameron, Reid, Vardy, Williams '''Best: '''Mutimer, Masten, Fisher, Duggan, Brayshaw, Reid '''Injuries: '''Nil Named side: In: Duggan, Ashman, Busher, Hobbs, Lamont Out: Rotham, Vardy (AFL) Late changes: Masten, Cameron, Vardy for Ashman, Busher, Flint, Hobbs, Hug, Lamont Injury list In the leadup to the match the following players were listed as injured or unavailable: References https://www.afl.com.au/match-centre/2019/21/rich-v-wce https://afltables.com/afl/stats/games/2019/141820190818.html 2019 22 2019 22